Hegseth shoots down report Iran has ‘kamikaze dolphins,’ but says US might
Hegseth denied Iran has mine-carrying dolphins and would not say whether the U.S. has similar marine mammals.
- During a Tuesday Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed reports that Iran possesses 'kamikaze dolphins,' stating he 'can confirm they don't' while declining to address U.S. Navy capabilities.
- An April Wall Street Journal report claimed Iranian officials discussed reviving a Cold War-era program involving mine-carrying dolphins, though Iran reportedly acquired such animals from a Soviet program in 2000.
- General Dan Caine reacted with amusement, quipping, 'It's like sharks with laser beams,' while the U.S. Navy has long trained marine mammals for mine detection, not offensive missions.
- Hegseth's refusal to 'confirm or deny' U.S. marine-mammal assets creates strategic ambiguity affecting 'Project Freedom,' the operation protecting commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
- Amid heightened tensions, Iran continues relying on asymmetric naval tactics including mines and fast-attack boats in the Strait of Hormuz, where monitoring will determine if the claim alters maritime threat assessments.
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10 Articles
'Sharks with laser beams': The Joint Chiefs chairman just responded to Iran's kamikaze dolphin reports with an Austin Powers quote
At a recent Pentagon press conference, General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made an unexpected movie reference when a reporter asked him about reports of Iran training “kamikaze dolphins” to attack U.S. warships. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was also present at the briefing, where the two were giving updates on the ongoing conflict with Iran. According to Brobible, when a reporter brought up the dolphin reports, General…
Truth or Fake - Could Iran use ‘kamikaze dolphins’ against the US in the Strait of Hormuz?
As US-Iran tensions escalate around the Strait of Hormuz, a journalist at a Pentagon briefing this week asked top US officials an out-of-the ordinary question: whether Tehran could deploy “kamikaze dolphins” against US warships. The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it seems, as multiple countries have a history of using marine mammals for military uses.
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